


Golddust

by lizardwriter



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: AvaLance, DJAU, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2018-09-24
Packaged: 2019-05-31 22:18:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15128954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lizardwriter/pseuds/lizardwriter
Summary: Ava is NOT thrilled about going to the club even though her friends are technically going out to celebrate her, however the DJ at the club might change her mind.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Today is my birthday so I'm giving you guys the first chapter of this story that I've been working on for a while. It's going to be a lot grittier than ISMFIYE, so just a heads up, and warnings may come up in the future for certain things. Also expect more characters to come into it, I just didn't want to give too much away in the tags! :) I really hope you guys like this because it is absolutely my favourite thing that I'm writing! 
> 
> (P.S. Since it's my birthday feel free to leave me a present of a comment! Those make my day!)

“One night out won’t kill you.”

Ava rolled her eyes. She knew that, but she was supposed to be responsible now. She was officially a police officer. Her assignment in the Downtown Precinct started next week. 

“Come on!” Zari coaxed. “You just graduated the academy! If now is not a time to go out and celebrate, when is?”

“Plus you never come out with us,” Amaya added. 

“Ever,” Felicity chimed in, her puppy dog eyes and pout in full effect. 

Ava looked at her three best friends and sighed. She knew them. She loved them. They were amazing, strong, stubborn women. 

She wasn’t going to win. 

“Fine,” she relented. “But I want to be home by midnight.”

“One,” Zari bartered. 

“Nothing good ever happens after midnight,” Ava argued. 

“How about we see how the night goes?” Amaya, ever the voice of wisdom, suggested. 

“Midnight,” Ava muttered stubbornly under her breath. 

“We get to do your hair and makeup, right?” Felicity asked, changing the subject. 

“No,” Ava replied, shaking her head. 

“Yes,” her friends contradicted in unison. 

“You’ll thank us later,” Amaya said. 

Ava grumbled under her breath. “I highly doubt that.”

  
  
  


The club was loud and crowded. Ava had half hoped they’d get turned away by the intimidating bouncer at the door, but he’d taken one look at them, grinned in a way that had made her feel slightly uncomfortable, and waved them through without even checking ID. 

Ava had yet to see an ID checked at the bar, either. And she was sure the club had to be close to, if not over, capacity. The fire exits could have been more clearly marked, too. 

“Turn off your cop brain,” Amaya said, grabbing her shoulders and massaging the tension out of them for a second. “Relax. Have fun! We’re here to celebrate you!”

“Then why aren’t we doing something I actually want to do?” Ava countered, raising her voice over the music. 

“Because as your best friends it is our responsibility to push you out of your comfort zone every once in a while. It’s good for you. Just embrace it, and maybe you’ll surprise yourself,” Amaya advised. 

Ava sighed, but relented as Zari handed her a drink. It was bright red. 

“What is it?” she asked dubiously. 

“Tasty!” Zari replied. “Just drink it!”

Ava took a small sip. It was a little on the cloyingly sweet side for her tastes, but it was drinkable. 

The music was loud and pulsing with way too much bass, not that most of the patrons seemed to mind the mind-numbing, hearing-loss inducing sounds. It was enough to make Ava and her friends find shelter a little ways away from the speakers, though. 

“Are we really supposed to dance to this?” Ava complained. 

“Here I thought you’d forgotten how to dance,” Felicity challenged. 

“Or have fun,” Zari added with a smirk. 

“Hey! I have lots of fun. Responsible fun,” Ava replied. 

“Come on, lay off. We’re celebrating her, remember?” Amaya cut in.

“Yes, exactly. Thank you,” Ava declared. She took a long sip of her drink and managed not to grimace at the pure sugar she was sucking down. She was going to order her next drink for sure. Something reasonable and not too alcoholic. A beer, maybe. 

“But, remember what I said about embracing tonight?” Amaya said. 

Ava nodded. Okay. Relax. She could relax. She could have fun at this club that was at the very least on the verge of breaking some laws if they were not outright breaking them already. She did not start her post until Monday. She tilted her head from side to side and wiggled her shoulders. Going with the flow. Embracing the night. 

“Yeah, nope, still not feeling it.”

Amaya and Felicity laughed while Zari rolled her eyes with a fond look on her face. 

“Drink up, buttercup,” Zari declared. “The booze will help.”

  
  
  


Two hours and a drink and a half into their night, the insufferable bass stopped. Ava breathed a sigh of relief into her beer. 

“Thank you DJ...um...Jay? Really? Okay, anyway, we know whose musical stylings you’re all really here to hear tonight and I’m not gonna keep this party from keeping going, so, without further ado, I give you DJ CANARY!!!”

The lights flashed and dipped as alternating blue and pink spotlights flitted past the DJ booth. A cheer rang up from the dance floor and Felicity leaned over to Ava and said, “I’ve heard she’s really good!”

She? Well, that was already a step up from the last DJ. Ava paid a little closer attention. 

A white strobe light behind the DJ booth began to go off, intermittently blinding. 

The first thing she noticed was hair like fire, reddish, orangeish, pink shining in the lights. Strobes from in front of the booth began to flash and Ava felt her breath catch at piercing blue eyes and a sly smirk. 

The woman at the booth surveyed her audience, put a large set of headphones over her ears, and lifted her arms. The floral leather jacket she was wearing parted to reveal a black lacy top that was really more bra than top, and in the flashes of dramatic lighting Ava could make out the most toned set of abs she’d ever seen. 

“Alright,” a husky voice said, “let’s get this party started.”

Without wasting a moment a lyrical melody rang out through the club. A high note held in a clear soprano voice, and then the beat dropped. Unlike before, the bass was not heavy-handed. 

Ava found herself bopping along to the beat without even meaning to. THIS DJ was GOOD.

And hot. Really fucking hot. 

DJ Canary bounced her head to the beat, her face down and focussed on the task in front of her, but a smile curled on her lips. Watching her, it was easy to see she loved what she did. 

“Earth to Ava!” 

Zari’s voice pulled Ava back to her group and she blinked at them in surprise. They all looked vaguely amused. 

“Hot for DJ?” Zari asked. 

“No!” Ava exclaimed, feeling her cheeks flush even as she said it.

Zari smirked. 

“I mean, I’d do her,” Felicity volunteered. 

“Says the straight girl in the group,” Amaya deadpanned. 

Felicity shrugged. “I’ve got eyes. I’m flexible.”

“Aaaanyway,” Zari said, “drink up or put it down cause it’s dancing time.”

  
  
  


Ava wouldn’t say that she’d ever truly enjoyed club music. Give her some classic rock or acoustic folk any day of the week. The catchy beats of Billy Joel. The dulcet tones of Joni Mitchell. The smooth tunes of Paul Simon. That was her jam. Elton John, Queen, Stevie Nicks...music you could sing along to. Timeless music. 

Club music never sang to her soul in the same way. 

Until tonight. 

She’d never felt so free on the dance floor before. (At least, not with so little alcohol in her system.) It was as if the music that DJ Canary was spinning was laced with a sort of magical energy that took over her body. 

Even as Amaya and Zari found their way to an isolated corner and Felicity paired off with a conventionally handsome guy and went off to the bar for more drinks, Ava kept dancing, her hips swaying, arms above her head, body immersed in the music. 

Then there was the DJ herself. She was mesmerizing, dancing along as she worked, eyes occasionally scanning the crowds, easily keeping the masses pumped up and on the dance floor. Ava watched as she took a long drink from a bottle of water, a green light flashing past in such a way so as to perfectly illuminate her neck and chest as she did so. DJ Canary set the bottle of water down and her eyes danced over the sea of people, pausing here and there.

And then suddenly Ava couldn’t breathe, and she was sure her body was no longer moving on the beat, because stunning blue eyes, popping even more in a blue light dancing over the booth, were looking straight at her. 

DJ Canary held her gaze for what felt like an eternity, and a smirk played across her lips. She slid her leather jacket off her shoulders to reveal toned arms that Ava’s eyes couldn’t help but flit to. She thought she caught sight of a tattoo on her right arm, but the light swung up, illuminating the DJ’s face and leaving her body in darkness. When Ava looked back up into the DJ’s eyes, she would have sworn that the woman winked at her. 

Her pulse was racing and her body felt unnaturally hot. 

Water, she thought. Water would be good. 

She made her way to the bar, very carefully not looking back at DJ Canary. Not that that meant anything. She squeezed in beside Felicity, tapping her on the arm to alert her of her presence. 

Felicity grinned at her and resumed her conversation with Mr. Tall and Handsome. 

Ava ordered water with ice and gladly slurped it down. She had worked up a thin sheen of sweat on the dance floor and now that she was at the bar she felt a little sticky and ridiculous. The water was cooling as it trickled down her throat and she finished the glass quickly. She had just ordered another glass from a cute brunette with bright eyes who shot her a wink that reminded her uncannily of the DJ when Amaya and Zari came up to her. 

Predictably, their arms were wrapped around each other and they had that breathless flush that suggested they’d been making out somewhere and could barely keep their hands to themselves. 

“Hey, we were thinking of heading out. Are you ready?”

Ava frowned and checked her watch. 1:45 a.m. It was almost two hours after her self-imposed deadline. Nothing good could possibly happen if she stayed later, and yet, she didn’t feel like leaving. Her body was buzzing, not remotely tired. 

She nudged Felicity behind her. “You leaving now?”

“I was going to head out soon,” Felicity confessed looking apologetic. 

Ava hesitated. It was stupid to stay without the friends who had dragged her out in the first place, right?

The song changed in a smooth transition, the beats blending together, and Ava turned to look up at the DJ. She was back to focusing on the electronics in front of her, shoulder pushing one side of her headphones into her ear, smile on her face. Ava swallowed hard. 

“Someone’s hot for DJ!” Amaya teased, leaning in to talk into her ear. 

Ava shook her head and leaned back. “No. It’s just good music!”

Amaya and Zari exchanged a look. 

“What?” Ava demanded. 

“It’s just this isn’t your usual style of music,” Felicity said. 

“Hey, are we-“ Mr. Tall and Handsome tried to interrupt, but Felicity held up a hand. 

“Just a second,” she replied, not bothering to look at him. 

“Hey, I just bought you a drink and everything was going well and you can’t even look at me?”

Felicity sighed and rolled her eyes. Ava was tempted to step in and she knew Zari and Amaya were, too, but Felicity didn’t need their help. “Congratulations,” she said turning back to him. “You’ve just cockblocked yourself by being an entitled asshole who couldn’t wait a few minutes for me to converse with my friends. You have a nice night of jerking off to sad music.” She turned back to Ava, Amaya, and Zari, all of whom were doing their best not to laugh at the baffled expression on the guy’s face. “Actually, I’m ready to go now, as it turns out. Shall we go find a taxi?”

Amaya and Zari both made to leave, but Ava hesitated again. She really wasn’t tired. “I think I’m gonna stay, just for a little while.”

Felicity raised an eyebrow at her. 

“What happened to ‘nothing good happens after midnight’?” Zari challenged. 

“As evidenced by that guy,” Felicity added. 

“You didn’t end up in his bed, so that was good,” Ava pointed out. 

“Touché,” Felicity replied. 

“I don’t know. I think the excitement of finishing the academy and starting to be an actual cop just finally hit me. I’m wired.”

“Okay, well, text when you get home safe, okay?” Amaya said, giving her a kiss on the cheek. 

“Promise,” Ava assured her. 

“And watch your drinks. Don’t set them down even for a second,” Felicity advised, placing a kiss on Ava’s other cheek. 

Ava laughed. “I do know how to take care of myself.”

“You sure you don’t want to come with us? You didn’t even want to come out in the first place,” Zari pointed out. 

Ava didn’t need to look past Zari towards the DJ to know that her answer hadn’t changed. “Well, somebody,” Ava looked pointedly at Amaya, “told me to embrace tonight, and I have. I’m sure. I mean I’ll probably be home in another hour anyway, but yeah, I’m gonna stay.”

“Don’t worry, ladies. I’ll keep an eye on her,” the pretty bartender she’d ordered her second glass of water from said, leaning over the bar with a smile. She nodded at the glass of ice water sweating a circle of water onto the bar. “Let me get you a fresh one. The ice has half melted.”

Ava smiled appreciatively. “Thanks.”

The bartender nodded again and smiled warmly, and Ava turned back to her friends. “See? You’re not leaving me by myself. The very nice bartender has my back.”

Zari relented. “Don’t forget to text!”

“I won’t. I won’t,” she replied. 

Zari gave a little wave and Ava watched her three friends head towards the exit before turning her attention back to the DJ.

She was scanning the club again, a smirk playing across her face, her eyes gleaming whenever the colored lights flitted past her. Ava was sure she could make out a tattoo on her upper arm, but she was too far away and the lighting was too bad for her to make out what it was. That didn’t stop Ava from wondering though. 

“She’s good, isn’t she?” a voice from behind her shook her out of her thoughts. 

Ava turned back to the bartender and nodded. “She’s amazing,” slipped out before she could think better of it. “The music, I mean. It’s...normally this stuff isn’t my thing, but she’s very talented.”

The bartender tilted her head to the side and studied her with a hint of a smirk on her face, finally she nodded. “Yeah. She’s too good for this place, but we all do what we have to to pay the bills, don’t we?”

Ava nodded her agreement, though the truth was she loves her job. Or at least, she thought she’d love her job. She was excited to do some real good in this city and stand alongside her brothers and sisters in blue. 

The bartender moved to take some more orders and Ava stood there drinking her water. It was the beats, she told herself, that had her feeling flushed. It was the music and the dancing that had her feeling hyped up. 

She glanced back at DJ Canary and once again found their gazes locked. The DJ smirked and turned her attention to her work. 

Ava frowned. There was no way she’d actually noticed her twice, right? There was a sea of people there. How could she possibly pick one face out of a crowd. The DJ had been looking in her direction, that was all. 

Ava downed the rest of her water. 

She ignored the way that her heart was beating twice as fast as the beat of the current song. 

  
  
  


How was it past 3 in the morning already? That was...so far past midnight. Ava groaned and splashed a little cold water on her face. She should’ve been home and in bed hours ago. Why was she still here? To awkwardly watch some insanely hot girl play some really good music? Okay, but that didn’t justify this. She was going to regret her decisions in the morning. She hadn’t NEEDED to stay until the end of the set. It was just music. She had plenty of good music at home. Plenty of good music that she could listen to during normal daylight hours. She looked at herself in the mirror and scowled. 

These were not the level-headed decisions of one of the city’s finest. 

She sighed deeply and exited the bathroom, pushing past a couple making out in the narrow hallway beyond. The songs playing now, muffled by the wall and door that stood between the main area of the club and her, sounded straight from the radio’s top 100 pop hits or something. It was jarring from the creativity that had been on display just a few minutes before. 

Ava turned a corner and froze. 

There was a flash of now familiar fiery hair, and then DJ Canary was looking at her with eyes that shone bright as the clear Caribbean waters she and her friends had visited after high school graduation. There was no question, this time, whether the DJ really saw her or not. There was nobody else in the hallway. 

DJ Canary smirked and winked. “Hey,” she greeted, her voice husky and a bit hoarse. 

Ava felt goosebumps raise on her arm. She glanced behind her just to make sure that she wasn’t mistaken about being the only other person there, and turned back unable to hide her surprise. “Hi,” she replied, unsure of herself. 

The DJ chuckled and ran a hand through her hair, showing off toned arm muscles and flashing another hint of ink on her inner wrist. 

Ava so badly wanted to ask about it, but she didn’t want to make a fool of herself. 

“Hold this for a sec?” DJ Canary asked, holding out her leather jacket. 

Ava took it without saying a word, feeling very thrown by the entire situation. 

The DJ then knelt down and rummaged through the bag she had with her and pulled out a white tank top. She stood and tugged it on, but not before Ava took in the way her abs flexed. The lacy black bra top she had on under it was visible through it, and Ava realized, for the first time, the way her ripped fitted jeans hugged her legs. 

Ava’s mouth felt suddenly dry, but she really needed to try to say something. “I liked your set,” she managed. 

The woman smirked at her again and reached for her jacket. “I know.”

Not really the response Ava had expected. 

“Thanks,” the woman added, holding up her jacket before slipping it on. She pulled her hair out from the back and Ava briefly wondered if it was more orange or more red. 

She couldn’t quite decide.

“What do you mean, you know?”

DJ Canary shrugged. “I saw you watching.”

Ava frowned and blushed. “Don’t be silly. There were like two hundred people in there.”

“Probably more,” DJ Canary agreed. “But I always notice a pretty face.” 

The wink that accompanied that statement did nothing to help Ava’s blush go away, and Ava kind of figured that that was the point. 

“Right, well, anyway...goodnight,” Ava said, clearing her throat uncomfortably. God, why was her mouth so fricking dry all of a sudden? 

The DJ tilted her head to the side and studied her for a moment in a way that for some reason reminded Ava of her bartender friend. “My next set starts at 9 tomorrow night,” DJ Canary said. 

“Why are you telling me that?” Ava asked, beginning to feel a little defensive. 

The DJ just grinned, picked up her bag, and headed on down the hallway with a little wave. “Goodnight!” she called over her shoulder before disappearing through a door that Ava hadn’t even noticed before. 

Some cop, she thought to herself. 

She stood there for another moment then realized that she was being ridiculous. The DJ was gone. She wasn’t likely to ever see her again. And it was really, really late. 

She was still feeling the buzz of a fun night out, but she had no doubt that once her head hit the pillow all thoughts of pretty, tattooed DJs would leave her mind and she’d fall straight to sleep. 

  
  


As it turned out, she was half right. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara thinks about her night and has another encounter with Ava.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot to mention that this fic, unlike my other Avalance fics, is rotating POV, so this chapter is Sara's. I hope you enjoy!

“Good set?”

Sara turned to see the owner of the growly voice. She smiled at Mick. He was big, burly, and gruff, but he had a good heart. 

“You were in the club. You heard it,” she pointed out. 

Mick grunted and scratched his bald head. “S’no rock’n’roll.”

Sara rolled her eyes. They’d had this conversation before. “How’s Axl?” she changed the subject. She’d known people with pet mice before, but Mick was the first person she’d ever met who had a pet rat. Sara had to admit he was pretty cute.

“Good,” Mick replied. 

“Good. Well, my bed is calling my name, so I’ll see you tomorrow, as long as the bosses…?”

Mick shook his head. “Go. Sleep.”

Sara pushed up onto the balls of her feet and placed a small kiss on Mick’s cheek. He grunted and waved her off. 

She pushed out through the side door and breathed a deep breath. As much as she loved the music and watching the way that people responded to it, she was always glad to see the end of her set and leave the club. 

“What, no arm candy tonight?” a teasing voice asked from the shadows.

Sara rolled her eyes. “Too tired.”

Her sister, Laurel, pushed off the wall and stepped into the circle of light provided by the streetlight. She’d let her long brown hair down since the end of her shift, but it did nothing to hide the tired bags under her eyes. Work drained both of them. 

“Didn’t you see my signal about the tall, hot one, though? She was definitely interested.”

The tall, hot one. The girl from the hallway. Yes. She’d gotten the signal and she had definitely been interested. 

“I ran into her, actually, but Laurel it is laaaate and my bed is comfy.”

Laurel laughed. “Shame. She stayed after all her friends left just to watch you spin, you know.”

Sara raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Didn’t really seem like her scene, either. Should’ve seen her when she walked in. I don’t think I’ve ever seen shoulders so tense,” Laurel supplied.

That was interesting. Sara liked converting people to her music. (Bonus if they were exceptionally attractive people.) She liked knowing she made them feel things with her tracks. She liked seeing their bodies respond to that perfect balance of beat and tune. 

People heard the word DJ and assumed that she plugged in an iPod and played a playlist. Sure there were DJs who did that, but they were an embarrassment to the profession. To really DJ she had to be present. She had to read the room. She created new music by layering more than one song together, matching beats and lines and tweaking it into something different. She melded songs together seamlessly to keep the party going and keep people moving. Her goal was always to make people lose themselves in the music for as long as possible. The more they danced, the thirstier they got, the more money they dropped, the happier the bosses were. 

“Good tips tonight?” Sara asked. 

Laurel shrugged. “Not bad. Had our fair share of assholes tonight.”

Sara sighed. “When don’t you?”

Laurel laughed. “True. At least I avoided a conversation with the bosses this week.”

“I forgot you don’t work tomorrow,” Sara replied. 

Laurel stretched and grinned. “A whole two days of freedom! I can’t wait!”

“What’re you gonna do?”

“Sleep! And eat. Maybe sleep some more. And then I have some homework that I’ve been putting off,” Laurel sighed. 

“Good thing you’re only doing two classes a semester,” Sara said. 

“Hey, I’ll have you know I am acing both of them,” Laurel replied. 

“Good thing you work well under pressure.” Sara stuck out her tongue and Laurel laughed. 

“No argument here,” Laurel agreed, bumping Sara with her shoulder. 

Sara laughed, too. Her body was tired and her brain was running on fumes, as she headed to her car. It was beat up and old and in desperate need of a new paint job, but the pale yellow volvo still ran, which was all she needed. Laurel got in the passenger side as Sara slid into the driver’s seat and started it up. There was no purr to the engine as it turned over, just a clunk and then a sputtering roar. Sometime soon she was going to need to get the muffler replaced or fixed or something, but that was a worry for another day. 

“You gonna see Dad this weekend?” Sara asked as they headed for home. 

Laurel shook her head. “No. I don’t think I’ll see him until family dinner on Wednesday. You?”

Sara shook her head. She’d wanted to check in with him, but she knew that by the time she woke up tomorrow and ran the few errands she had, she’d have to get ready for work and Sunday was her designated day to work on new tracks. “Same. Family dinner. As long as they don’t make me work.”

“You know that particular decision never comes from them, right?”

Sara nodded. “No. It comes from HER.” 

They drove on a bit in silence and Sara’s mind flitted back to the girl from the hallway. Sara had noticed her from across the club no problem, and it wasn’t just because of her height. Long, blonde hair falling in loose waves down her back, high cheekbones and a killer jawline, low cut blue top that accentuated her ample breasts, and focused, calculating gaze. She’d stood out. 

She had been thirsty, for sure. Sara had felt her eyes raking over her as she’d put her shirt on in the hallway, and it was obvious how much the interaction had thrown her. She was strong, though. Girls often went weak at the knees for her, but this one hadn’t. Not in the normal fawning all over her, obviously flirting kind of way. She’d been awkward and a little aloof and, definitely sexy, but also somehow adorable. She’d stuck in Sara’s mind. 

She hoped she’d take the invite to her set tomorrow night for what it was. 

“Did you catch her name?” Sara asked. 

“Who?”

“Tall hottie,” Sara explained, realizing a little self-consciously that this would seem like an out of the blue question to Laurel, who was not, in fact, in her head, therefore hadn’t actually followed her line of thought. 

She felt Laurel’s gaze on her and squirmed slightly in her seat. 

“No, sorry.”

Sara shrugged. It wasn’t a big deal. There would be other girls. Or guys, for that matter. There always were. 

“I invited her to my set tomorrow,” Sara said. 

“Really?” Laurel asked. She sounded a little too amused for Sara’s liking. “In a Sara kind of way or a DJ Canary kind of way?” 

Sara frowned as she signaled a turn.  “What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked, turning down their street. 

“Did you say, ‘Hey, I’m playing again tomorrow if you’d like to come because it’d be nice to see you in the audience again,’ or did you say, ‘Hey, I play tomorrow.’?”

“Neither of those sound like me.”

“It was the latter wasn’t it,” Laurel said in a knowing way. “You didn’t turn off the aloof persona.”

“Hey, it’s not aloof, it’s confident!”

“Sure, sure. Whatever. Just maybe learn this one’s name before you bang her and leave her.”

“You make it sound like I’ve never had a relationship,” Sara grumbled. She was too tired to be raked over the coals like this. 

“Name one serious relationship that’s lasted longer than a month.”

Sara shot her sister a glare as they pulled into the apartment building’s parking garage. “So I like to keep unnecessary attachments to a minimum.”

She caught Laurel rolling her eyes out of the corner of her eyes as she pulled into their spot. 

“Can you blame me? You want to pull someone into this?” Sara gestures loosely around as she climbed out of the car. 

Laurel sighed. “We’ll get out of here eventually. Someday your talent will be too big to ignore and you’ll travel the world as the most in demand DJ ever,” Laurel assured her, grabbing her shoulders and giving them a little supportive squeeze. 

“Excuse you, my talent is already superb.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Laurel teased. 

Sara sighed. She’d rather keep her head down than dream about futures that probably wouldn’t come. She’d rather live in reality, even if it kind of sucked. At least she got to do what she loved, even if it was just at the club. 

“Do you think she’ll come?” Laurel asked as they headed into the stairwell. 

It was Sara’s turn to be confused by the sudden turn in conversation. “Who where?”

“Tall hottie to your set tomorrow?”

Sara shrugged. “Who knows. No big if she doesn’t.”

Her voice sounded confident and nonchalant. She wished her brain was onboard. Truth was, she was hoping the girl would come. She just wasn’t quite sure why it mattered to her. 

  
  
  


The crowd was pumped tonight and Sara was in the groove. She’d had a decent lead in DJ for a change, so that helped, but she had still practically doubled the number of people on the dance floor. The more people danced, the longer they stayed and the thirstier they got. The longer they stayed and the thirstier they got, more money they spent at the bar. The more money they spent, the happier the bosses were. Tonight they should be ecstatic. 

She scanned the crowd, picking out who this was working on and who she’d lost with the transition to the current song. There wasn’t a lot of change in the numbers. That was good. 

She was about to look back at her board, her fingers ready to add a filter for emphasis as the music pulsed in her ear through her headphone, when she caught her eye. 

Standing a good few inches taller than the girls near her, hair down, but more conservatively dressed tonight in a plain black or dark-colored v-neck t-shirt, leaning against the bar was the girl from the night before. Hallway girl. Tall hottie. 

Sara caught her eye and smirked as the fingers of one hand turned the knob for the filter at the same time her other hand turned up the bass. 

She couldn’t tell with this lighting, but she’d have bet money that there was a blush on tall hottie’s cheeks. She saw her unconsciously starting to bob to the music, and Sara smirked a little wider and winked at her before turning her attention back to her board. 

Maybe she’d go there tonight. 

Assuming the girl stayed. 

She hoped she’d stay. 

  
  


Sara couldn’t help but smirk. There she was, standing in the hallway once again, phone in hand, but clearly not paying attention to it. She’d been waiting, hoping to bump into her, it was clear, though she was obviously trying to make it appear as accidental as last time. 

She was looking the wrong way, though. 

“Hoping for a picture?” Sara asked. 

The girl jumped. “What?” she asked, looking startled.  

Sara nodded at her phone and she put it away hurriedly. 

“No, I was just texting a friend.”

Sara raised an eyebrow at her. “Good friend.”

“Hmm?” 

Sara smirked broader. The girl had clearly only been half listening as her eyes traveled slowly over Sara. Still thirsty. 

“They’d have to be to not mind texts at 2:30 in the morning,” Sara pointed out. 

“Oh, she, uh, she works IT for this big company and the guy who runs it keeps odd hours which means she has to, too,” the girl explained, clearly flustered. 

“I see,” Sara said, letting her eyes trail slowly over the girl before her. Tight fitting jeans hugged her hips while the black v-neck showed just a hint of her breasts. It was a sexy combination. Most girls came to the club dressed a little too over-the-top for Sara’s liking (not that she complained when she was undressing them), but this one had gone for practical yet still attractive. She liked that. 

When Sara met her gaze, intelligent blue eyes looked back at her from above a faint blush.  

“So you came.”

The girl coughed and her blush deepened. “What?”

That was an interesting reaction. Sara smirked broader. “To the set. You decided to come back tonight.”

“Oh, um, yeah. I mean, I didn’t have other plans tonight, so I figured why not.”

Sara nodded. “Right. Your friends leave early again?”

“They, uh, they couldn’t come tonight,” she replied, her blush deepening. 

Sara tried not to look too smug. She really did. But it was so very hard. 

“Wait how did you know my friends left early yesterday?” the girl asked, suddenly suspicious. 

Busted. Good thing Sara was used to thinking on her feet. “Maybe a little birdie told me. Maybe I’ve got eyes and saw you with people at the start of my set yesterday that were not there when I saw you after it.”

The blush was back. It was a cute blush. The hair tuck was cute, too. As was the sheepish, “Oh.”

Yeah, Sara was definitely interested in going there. 

The girl’s eyes dipped to her chest, and Sara put her shoulders back and her hands on her hips to better spread her leather jacket, giving the girl a good view of her skin-tight black tank top. Her eyes came back up to meet hers shyly. 

Sara grinned. Tall Hottie was interested in going there too. 

Sara stepped closer and held her gaze. “So you just thought you’d come see me on your own? That’s...bold,” she said, dropping her voice a little to add a little extra husk to it. 

The girl’s response was not the one she anticipated. She leaned away, not forward, and her face contorted into disapproval. “What, because girls can’t go to clubs by themselves?”

Sara frowned. “No. Girls can do whatever the fuck they want.”

“Damn right,” the girl agreed. 

Sara studied her for a second. Somehow she’d triggered some defensiveness in the girl. She wasn’t quite sure why. Still, why not go for it. 

“Or whoever they want,” she added, purposefully wetting her lips with her tongue. 

The girl’s eyes darted to her lips, but she didn’t swoon the way most girls would have. 

“Does that really work?” she asked instead, sounding a little incredulous. 

Sara raised an eyebrow at her curiously. “You’d be surprised.”

“Wow. Really?”

Sara shrugged. “On most girls I meet.”

“Wow,” the girl said again. 

Sara studied her another moment. “Okay, Miss Not-Like-Most-Girls-I-Meet, you got a name?” 

“Ava.”

Ava. It was a pretty name. 

Ava was definitely interested, but Sara was starting to glean that she wasn’t the type who would fall into her bed after a few choice words. That was simultaneously disappointing and intriguing. Sara didn’t mind a challenge. 

“What about you?”

Sara smirked. Yep, despite her resistance she was definitely interested. 

“What about me?”

“You’re not going to try to tell me your birth name is DJ Canary.”

Sara raised an eyebrow her. “No?”

Ava rolled her eyes and Sara chuckled. 

“Okay, you’re right. It’s not.”

“So what is it?” 

Sara took another step forward and reached out to tuck some hair behind Ava’s ear. She didn’t miss the shiver that ran through Ava in response. She grinned. “Come to my set tomorrow at 7 and maybe I’ll tell you,” she said with a wink. With that she moved past her, far closer than necessary so that her arm would brush against Ava’s, and headed towards the door to the back. 

“I can’t!” Ava called after her. 

Sara paused and half turned, raising a questioning eyebrow at Ava. 

“I start a new job Monday morning.”

Sara shrugged and turned away again. “It’s not a long set tomorrow.”

“It’s an important job,” Ava explained. 

“It’s up to you, Ava Not-Like-Other-Girls!” Sara called over her shoulder before reaching the door to the back. 

She didn’t look around to see if Ava was still watching her. Either she’d be there tomorrow or she wouldn’t. 

Sara told herself it didn’t matter to her one way or the other. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ava has an internal debate or two and survives her first week as a cop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ava's pov this chapter. Writing has been slow going lately, but this chapter is on the longer side, so I hope it tides you all over until I can update other things.

She couldn’t go. She just couldn’t. It would not be responsible of her. 

Plus, who did that DJ Canary think she was anyway? “You get my name if you come to my next gig!” Ava rolled her eyes. 

But, dammit, she  _ wanted _ to go. 

She looked at her watch. 6:00 p.m. She had an hour before Canary’s set started. 

Not that it matters because she couldn’t go. 

Ava looked down at her bed. She looked at the uniform she was going to put on in the morning - freshly pressed, collar starched, pristine. That was her future. Not some DJ from a club she hadn’t even wanted to go to in the first place. 

She picked up her now worn copy of  _ Arresting Communication: Essential Interaction Skills for Law Enforcement _ and took it to the living room. She plopped down on the couch and began to read through it. She knew it front to back, but tomorrow she was going to be a real police officer. She wanted to be as prepared as possible. She knew in the moment it was possible to forget her training. She knew it had happened to others in the past. The more she knew her stuff backwards and forwards the less likely it was to happen to her. 

She hoped, anyway. 

She read part of the first section, flipping the book up onto her chest every once in a while to test her memory of a page before reading over it. She did well and felt a little pleased with herself. 

She checked her phone. 

6:30. Technically it wasn’t too late to go, but by the time she got ready and got there she’d miss the start of the set. 

Besides, she wasn’t going. 

She COULDN’T go. 

Besides, did she even really want to go? It wasn’t really her scene. Zari’s eyes had practically bugged out of her head when she’d asked her to go with her the night before. 

“Wow! Ava Sharpe clubbing two nights in a row? You really ARE hot for DJ!” Zari had declared, prompting a ridiculous blush and a weak attempt at denial. 

So maybe DJ Canary WAS ridiculously attractive, in an “it’s unfair that an actual real person looks that good” kind of way, but she was also way too cocky and obnoxiously mysterious. Seriously who tried to bribe someone with their name? 

She was hardly Ava’s type. 

Ava made her way through chapters two and three of her book in much the same way she’d gone through the first one - testing her knowledge and grinning to herself when she got it all right. 

She checked her phone again. 8:03. 

DJ Canary has said that her set wasn’t a long one tonight. It was probably half over already. Not worth trying to go. 

Not that she was considering it. 

No, she was going to go to bed early and wake up well-rested for her very first ever shift as Officer Sharpe. 

The thought filled her with a sense of pride. She’d worked hard, she’d been at the top of her class at the Academy, and it was all about to pay off. 

She wasn’t delusional enough to think she’d learned all there was to know and she had it all figured out, but that was half of the fun. She LIKED learning. She liked self-betterment. She liked the challenge. 

A light dinner and two more chapters later and she was ready to call it a night. Or, rather, she should have been ready to call it a night. She was tired and she needed to sleep, but when she lay down and her hair fell into her face she remembered DJ Canary brushing it out of her face the night before. 

Or, well, technically, that had only been early this morning. 

Ava’s cheek had flooded with warmth where Canary’s fingers had brushed against it, and the feeling had lingered all the way home. She couldn’t help it. She was only human. And she hadn’t dated anybody for a while now. And Canary really was the most stunning person she’d ever met. Ava closed her eyes and DJ Canary’s crystal blue eyes stared back at her from the inside of her eyelids. 

Ava rolled over and closed her eyes again. This time DJ Canary’s smirk played through her mind. Why did she have to look so damn smug all the time? Did that many girls really throw themselves at her that it warranted her over-confidence?

Ava played over her mental image of DJ Canary: fiery orange-pink hair, piercing blue eyes framed by perfectly lined dark eye makeup, pouty lips, annoyingly attractive smirk, a faint spattering of freckles across her nose, confidence oozing from every pore, toned body, well-defined arm muscles and cut abs…

Ava threw her sheet aside and rolled over again. She was having trouble getting comfortable.

She considered the bulk of the girls she’d known throughout her life.

Yeah, okay, DJ Canary probably did get girls falling all over themselves at her often enough to warrant her cockiness. 

Ava tried to turn her mind to what her first FTO might be like. There were always horror stories about grumps who didn’t want to work with a rookie and either didn’t let them do or learn anything or threw them in over their heads way too soon. She hoped she’d get someone she could really learn from. She’s been so excited to get her first assignment. Captain Lance was a bit of a legend on the force. He was known for two things: his gruff, no-nonsense attitude, and his ability to push his people to be the best. His precinct had the highest closing rate in the state. 

She couldn’t wait to work with him. Not that he’d have too much to do with a rookie like her directly, probably, but still. 

Who needed hot DJs when she had such an amazing job opportunity waiting for her the next morning. 

She rolled over again determined to get some quality sleep. She wanted to be well-rested and alert when she reported for duty in the morning. 

She smiled happily to herself, her eyes firmly closed, as she thought of the adventures that awaited her. She was getting drowsy and had almost drifted off then pinkish-orange hair flashed through her memory. She let out a frustrated groan and threw off her sheet again. 

Fine, she thought to herself. She’d go back to the club on her first night off. DJ Canary seemed to play a set every night so far as she could tell. If she agreed to that could she get some sleep? Maybe bargaining with her own brain was not the best indication of sanity. She sighed and rolled over again. 

She WAS going to go to sleep. 

She was determined. 

No more thoughts of sexy DJs or clubbing or anything inappropriate. She was going to go to sleep and sleep well. 

  
  


Apparently her determination had nothing on her thirst. 

  
  


Her excitement overruled her fatigue and she was early and alert when she showed up at the station. Everyone was in their place, bodies relaxed, a few people were joking in a corner, their laughter reminding Ava that she was in a room full of unfamiliar faces. 

She checked in with the desk sergeant and was acutely aware of the creaking of her gun leather at her hip as she was assigned a locker and given a brief tour. Still, despite her fish-out-of-water feeling, everything was going well until Ray walked in. It wasn’t that Ray was a bad guy. He was actually the quintessential nice guy. He was also her competition for too if their Academy class and annoyingly cheerful and optimistic. She was sure that the man could walk into a massacre and find a silver lining to cling to. Beyond that, he was a man, which more often than not, especially in the male-centric world of law-enforcement, meant that he got more respect for less. 

Add that to him actually being competent, and she could basically kiss any good assignment she might have been tossed as rookie goodbye. 

Plus he’d brought a box of donuts. Why hadn’t she thought to bring donuts?

“Hi, Ava!” Ray greeted her enthusiastically when he spotted her. She gave a half-hearted wave back. 

“Okay, everyone, listen up!”

Ava’s head swivelled at the gruff voice and she stood up straight, and she stood up straight at attention as soon as she saw the Captain’s stripes on his uniform. 

Captain Lance had curly black hair streaked with gray, a scruffy five o’clock shadow, and a tired expression on his face. He wasn’t an imposing man in stature, but he commanded the room with ease. 

Ava felt her stomach tie in knots as her giddy excitement battled her sudden increase in nerves. 

“We have two new rookies with us in the squad room today.”

Ava tried not to let the groan from a few of her fellow officers get to her. Ray’s smile didn’t falter. At least the Captain shot a glare around the room in response. 

“Sharpe?”

Ava raised her hand as her heart raced even faster. Sharp brown eyes turned her way and Captain Lance gave her a slight nod of recognition. 

“Sharpe, you’re gonna be riding with Hunter for the next four weeks.”

Ava’s eyes scanned the room and a slender man with mousy brown hair and a neatly-trimmed beard stood up, looking at her with calculating eyes. 

“No trying to break the rookies, and no complaining about your assignments,” Captain Lance said.

“Got it,” Hunter replied, and Ava thought she detected a British accent. That was kind of interesting. He gave her a curt nod and resumed his seat, and she nodded back. 

“You two are patrolling in the drunk wagon today, so hope you’re up on DUI codes and what is and isn’t appropriate to laugh about on the drunk and disorderly codes,” Captain Lance informed them. 

“Yes, sir, Captain Lance, sir,” Ava replied, feeling her cheeks flush as she bumbled over her words. 

“At ease, Sharpe. It’s okay to breathe.”

A chuckle rippled around the room, and Ava knew her cheeks were an even brighter red now.  She did her best to swallow down her embarrassment. 

“Okay, and Palmer?” Captain Lance barked. 

“Right here!” Palmer said, stepping forward with the wide grin that never seemed to leave his face.  

“Got an eager one, I see,” Captain Lance muttered. “Right, Palmer you are going to be with Snart for the next four weeks.”

“Captain, really?” protested a gravelly voice. Ava’s eyes turned to see a well-built man with buzzed salt-and-pepper hair, a pronounced brow, and full lips making a face. 

“What’d I say about complaining?” Captain Lance demanded. 

“Abercrombie hasn’t dropped his smile since he walked in, Captain, and you KNOW me.”

“Behave, Snart,” Captain Lance ordered. 

Snart sighed. “Yes, Cap’n,” he muttered. 

“Looking forward to working with you!” Ray said, walking over and extending a hand. 

Snart looked at it, but made no move to shake it. Ray barely seemed phased. Ava decided she kind of liked Snart. 

The rest of the briefing was without incident and at the end Hunter came over to her and held out his hand. 

“Rip. Nice to meet you.”

Ava shook his hand. “Nice to meet you, too,” she said, making sure her handshake was firm and she made eye contact. As a woman in a man’s world, she’d learned not to give an inch. 

“Nervous?” he asked. 

She shook her head, hoping that Hunter hadn’t noticed the way that her heart was pounding and her palms had been a little clammy. 

He grinned in a way that let her know he wasn’t fooled. “See that guy in the corner?” he asked, pointing to an older man with a grimace, sharp eyes, and a tired expression who was grumbling at a desk in the corner. 

Ava nodded. 

“Just remember he had a first day, too.” 

Ava smiled appreciatively, and nodded again. She took a deep breath, and Hunter gave her another knowing look. 

“Okay, so first, things first: I drive. I am going to drive all week. If I like you, then maybe next week you can take half shifts behind the wheel. If I’m still not sure about you, I’ll drive then, too. Secondly, everything we do today - every new call we get - I’ll do the first one. If you’re feeling confident, you can do the second one. If it’s tricky, I may do the first five. You’re with me every step, you follow my lead, and you learn from me. Do you understand?”

Ava nodded, feeling the thrill of excitement welling up inside her. This was it. This was the job. This was the type of FTO she had hoped for. This was someone who was actually looking to mentor her and make her a better cop. “Yes, sir!”

Hunter gave her a calculating look. “Third, none of that ‘sir’ crap in my car. It’s Rip or it’s Hunter. Don’t sir me. Save the sirs for the Captain.” 

“Yes - Umm… Sure. Okay.” 

Hunter grinned. “Quick learner. I think we’re going to get along fine.” 

Ava smiled back at him. 

Behind her she heard Snart snap, “Atom boy!”

She looked over her shoulder to see Ray leaning over Snart’s shoulder to look at what he was examining on the desk as he said, “Um, it’s Palmer, actually.”

“Says here you’re a science nerd,” Snart replied, slapping the file on his desk shut. 

“Well, I mean, I do love science. I have a degree in -”

“Don’t care,” Snart cut him off. “You’re a cop now. You think your big brain can handle being a cop? ‘Cause I’m not so sure.”

Captain Lance was nearby and must have overheard because he called, “Snart! Your job is to show him the ropes, not break his spirit.” 

“Yes, Captain!” Snart replied with a forced smile. He turned back to Ray and narrowed his eyes again. “Of course, who says I can’t do both,” he muttered under his breath. 

“Your fellow Rookie is in for quite the few weeks with Snart,” Hunter said, obviously following her gaze. 

“Yeah, seems like,” Ava agreed. She almost felt a little bad for him. 

Almost. 

  
  


The drunk wagon was busier than she’d have thought. It was Monday. How were there so many drunk people? Why weren’t they at work? Not counting the guy they arrested AT his work. 

“Working the drunk wagon you’re going to have some of the scariest moments and some of the funniest moments on the job. People who are drunk or high don’t have the same impulse control. Any situation can turn dangerous at any moment, so don’t get complacent just because it’s our tenth call and it sounds just like the other nine that went textbook,” Hunter had advised her when they were headed to the vehicle that morning. 

He hadn’t been wrong about any of it. After depositing one particularly goofy drunk in a cell, she and Hunter had had to excuse themselves outside and devolve into laughter. Another call that had seemed benign at the start had ended with a woman charging head first at Ava, a broken bottle in hand. It was a good thing she was quick on her feet because she’d escaped without a scratch and managed to disarm and cuff the lady without further incident. She was pretty sure, though not positive, that Hunter had been a bit impressed. He wasn’t overly forthcoming with the praise, but he didn’t seem prone to belittling her either. 

She hadn’t had to draw her weapon once, which she was half relieved and half disappointed about. Her uniform, which had been stiff and starchy at the start of the day, was stuck to her back by the end of it. Her gun leather still squeaked when she walked, but as she walked to change back into civvies at the end of her shift, she didn’t feel quite so self-conscious about it. She’d been out there all day, working, backing up her FTO, doing her job, being a cop. 

Still, it wasn’t until she was heading out when Hunter stopped her and said, “Nice work out there today, Sharpe. See you in the morning,” that she had been sure her first day had been a success. 

She was exhausted, but happy, and already itching to get back there tomorrow. 

She had barely made it home and collapsed onto her couch with a beer when there was a knock at her door…

...in a familiar pattern.

She greeted her friends with a smile. 

“We brought food!” Felicity declared, pushing past her with her arms full of pizza boxes. 

“Somebody insisted that we come celebrate your first official day as a cop. I thought we should call first to make sure you hadn’t gotten shot day one -”

“NOT FUNNY!” Felicity called from the kitchen. 

“Glad you’re still in one piece,” Zari finished with a smirk. 

“Almost got a broken beer bottle to the stomach,” Ava relayed. 

“Really??” Felicity asked, reappearing with a bottle of beer in hand, her eyes wide. 

“Weren’t you wearing a vest? Would that have even penetrated?” Zari asked, not nearly as impressed as Ava had hoped. 

“I could have gotten hurt. It was scary for a moment,” Ava replied defensively. 

“Please, like Ava Sharpe, Martial Arts Queen, could ever be intimidated by someone with a broken bottle,” Zari said, teasingly. 

“I’m telling your girlfriend you called me that. She knows more martial arts than I do,” Ava pointed out. “Speaking of...No Amaya tonight?”

Zari shook her head. “She says congrats, but she got stuck doing overtime and won’t be out of work for another hour. We figured you’d be ready to crash pretty early tonight.”

“Not wrong,” Ava replied, failing to repress a yawn. “Hey, don’t you have to work, Felicity?”

Felicity shook her head. “Boss gave me the week off to make up for the other night when I was there until 5 a.m.”

Zari and Ava exchanged a look. They had their theories about Felicity’s boss. 

“What?” Felicity demanded. 

Zari shrugged. 

“No, what?” Felicity insisted with a frown. 

“You know he likes you, right? Like ‘like likes’ you. As in has a crush on you,” Ava said. 

Felicity balked. “Oliver Queen, hotshot CEO? Has a crush? On me?”

Zari and Ava nodded in unison. 

“I thought you couldn’t take drugs as a police officer,” Felicity retorted. 

Ava rolled her eyes. She knew that was how Felicity was going to react. 

“Is the week off paid?” Zari asked. 

“Well, yeah, otherwise I wouldn’t have taken it,” Felicity replied. 

“And did he send you flowers again?” Ava asked. 

“His secretary did it, I’m sure,” Felicity said, not sounding quite as sure of herself. 

“Uh-huh,” Zari and Ava replied, unconvinced. 

“And how many times did he just randomly drop by your office last week?” Zari asked. 

“Or ask you and only you to come in super late at a random hour, especially on a prime dating night?” Ava pointed out. 

“He always has a reason. He always has a task for me. It’s not like it’s just busy work,” Felicity said, crossing her arms and pouting out her lips a little. She sounded even less convinced. 

“Whatever you need to tell yourself, sweetie,” Zari said as Ava patted her on the back. 

Felicity groaned, rolled her eyes, then changed the subject. “So, tell us all about your first day as a cop!” Felicity said. “Maybe over pizza. And without any gory or gross bits,” she added. 

Ava laughed. “Deal.” 

  
  
  


Her first week passed in a blur of drunks, arrests, and paperworks. One week into the drunk wagon and she hadn’t had to draw her weapon yet. When Hunter commented on it at the end of their ten-hour shift on Thursday, the conversation surprised Ava. 

“Most rookies don’t make it their first week without trying to draw their weapon,” Hunter informed her as she was handing off the last of her paperwork for him to review. 

“Oh, well, I mean, with the drunk wagon patrol...I mean, none of the situations seemed...Nobody was very armed and it just seemed like unnecessary escalation to draw my weapon, so-”

Hunter cut her off with a chuckle. “It was a compliment, Sharpe. Most rookies are itching to get their finger on the trigger, not realizing the toll it takes or how easy it is to freeze in the moment when they’re really face-to-face with a situation that requires them making the decision to shoot or not. You’ve shown fairly good judgment so far.”

Ava felt her cheeks flush as her chest welled up with pride. “Thank you!” she replied, perhaps a little too enthusiastically. 

“Don’t go getting a big head. There’s still plenty to learn and improve on, and someday you may well have to draw that weapon.”

Ava nodded, but she was having a hard time repressing her smile. “Have you ever had to shoot anyone?” she asked. 

Hunter nodded grimly. “A few times. Happy to say that in each case it was non-lethal.”

“So you’ve never killed anyone?” Ava asked. 

Hunter gave her a wry smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “I didn’t say that. You do well making your rounds with your FTOs and I’ll tell you the story when you cycle back to me at the end.”

Ava nodded. 

“So, you’ve survived week one,” he said. 

Ava nodded again. “I’ve had a good mentor.”

Hunter chuckled. “Oooh, flattery will get you everywhere,” he joked. 

He could be gruff and on a call he was always no-nonsense, but he had a sarcastic sense of humor that suited him well, and Ava had learned over the past week that jokes were a way to survive the job, whether it be a way to work through a tough call or a time-killer to help the boring bits pass by quicker. 

She chuckled in response. 

“Listen, how about I buy you your first drink at Roni’s?” Hunter offered. 

Roni’s was a cop bar, and everyone in town knew it. It was an honor to be asked by a guy like Hunter, she knew. If her FTO was inviting her out for a beer after work, it was a sign or respect. Still, she hesitated. 

It was stupid, but she’d thought about going out to the club tonight. 

It wasn’t like she was anxious to see DJ Canary again, or anything, but, well, she had made the deal with herself about going back. 

“Look, part of this job is networking. You want to do well, you’re gonna need to socialize with these people, whether you actually like them or not,” Hunter coaxed. “I know you turned down an offer from Heywood yesterday.”

“Well, in my defense, he was asking me out more than asking me out for a drink as a fellow cop,” Ava replied defensively. 

Hunter chuckled. “You’re right, he was, and good call. He’s a nice guy, but I recommend dating outside the department.”

“I recommend not dating men,” Ava muttered, then clapped her hand over her mouth. It wasn’t that she was intentionally closeted at work, it was just that her sexuality wasn’t a part of her job, and she didn’t want it impacting her work situation or potential for advancement. 

Hunter raised an eyebrow and nodded. “Guess I don’t have to worry about you falling for my witty charms and boyish good looks, then,” he said with a grin. 

She let out a small sigh of relief that Hunter, at least, was not stuck in the Stone Age and wasn’t going to judge her. “Not really,” she confirmed. 

“Well there’s a load off my mind,” he joked, and Ava let herself laugh. “One drink?” he coaxed. “I promise not to let you drive drunk.”

Ava laughed again. “Okay. One.”

She could go to the club after. DJ Canary’s set probably wouldn’t be until later anyway. 

  
  


Ava could tell the moment she walked into the club that DJ Canary was not DJing. She was probably still too early. It was only...Oh. It was already nine o’clock. 

One drink had turned into two and then some water as she’d listened fascinated to some of the veterans of the force relaying past tales of both heroism and absurdity. Some of the men had been in her textbooks at the Academy. It was like sitting there with real live legends. It had been hard to tear herself away, but somehow orangey-red hair and piercing blue eyes wouldn’t leave her mind alone. 

It was surprisingly disappointing to know that she was going to have to wait to see DJ Canary in action. Not because she was that hot. Not really. And not because Ava was interested in her. She wasn’t her type. It was just that her music was that good. 

Definitely just the music. 

She may as well have a drink - just one - while she waited, she decided. 

She headed over to the bar and caught the eye of the friendly brunette bartender who she’d chatted to the weekend before. The woman came over with an easy smile. 

“Back again, huh?” 

“Yeah, uh, just for a drink, though.”

The bartender nodded, with a smile that suggested she didn’t entirely believe her. “What’re you having tonight, then?”

“Just a beer. Whatever is on tap,” Ava replied. 

The bartender raised an eyebrow at her. “You know they serve beers elsewhere for cheaper, right?”

Ava felt her cheeks flush. “I like the ambiance,” Ava lied. 

The bartender laughed. “No you don’t,” she accused. 

“Excuse me?” Ava demanded, trying to remember exactly why she’d decided to come back here anyway. 

“I’ll get you that beer,” the bartender said instead of responding. She wandered away, and when she returned a few minutes later she was carrying a very full glass of beer and Ava was still stewing. 

“Is everyone in this place overly cocky?” she demanded as the bartender set her glass down. 

“What?”

Ava realized that the bartender couldn’t possibly know about any of her conversations with DJ Canary, and she didn’t really feel like relaying them, so she shook her head. “Nevermind. Here, I’m gonna pay for this drink now rather than start a tab.”

The bartender shook her head. “This one’s on the house,” she said. 

“Why?” Ava asked with a frown. 

The bartender shrugged. “I can overcharge you for your next one if it makes you feel better about it.” 

Ava quickly shook her head. “No. I’m good. Thanks.”

The bartender nodded and wandered off to help another customer, leaving Ava to sip her beer and wonder what she was really doing there. The music wasn’t  _ bad _ tonight, but it would objectively be  _ better _ once DJ Canary took over. At least it wasn’t as bass heavy as the first night she’d come. This was just...nothing special. 

Ava pulled out her phone and began to browse through instagram. It wasn’t that engaging, but it wasn’t like the club was either. Pretty soon she’d caught up and moved on to facebook. She was halfway through watching a video of a chocolate mousse cake being made and thinking she should just go home and try her hand at baking, when a voice interrupted her. 

“She’s not here tonight, by the way.”

It was the brunette bartender again. Ava felt called out. 

“Who?” she played dumb. 

The expression on the bartender’s face told Ava that she wasn’t remotely fooled. 

“Canary. She doesn’t have a set tonight.”

“Oh,” Ava replied. “Well, I just came to have a drink.”

The smirk that met her comment made her think of Sara, and she was sure that she was blushing. 

“How is your expensive beer?” the bartender asked. 

“Tasty, thanks,” Ava replied, wondering how soon she could leave without this woman laughing about it.

“Still enjoying the ambiance?” 

“Mhm.” Ava nodded as she took a sip of her beer, hoping that that would hide how very unconvincing she was being. 

“She’s got a set tomorrow,” the bartender said, smirk still in place on her face, her eyes knowing. 

“Who?” Ava tried again. 

The bartender chuckled. “Okay. If that’s the way you want to play it.”

Ava debated internally with herself for a moment. Clearly the bartender wasn’t fooled for a second, so why bother pretending. 

“Hey, you know her real name?” she blurted out before she could think better of it. 

The bartender smiled triumphantly. “Yep,” she replied. 

“What is it?” Ava asked. 

The bartender’s grin grew wider. “Gotta ask her.” 

Ava scowled. “I did,” she grumbled. 

“What’d she say?” 

“She said I had to come to her next set to get it, but I had to work the next morning, and I just started a  new job, and I’m happy to say that my priorities are firmly in order, so…”

“So you didn’t go and now you wish you had,” she finished for her. 

“No!” Ava corrected maybe a little too quickly. “I mean...I just...How hard is it to tell someone your name?”

The bartender smirked again. “Well, my name’s Laurel, and I’ll be here tomorrow night, too, so when you get here stop by and I’ll have your favorite ready for you,” Laurel replied.

“My favorite?” Ava asked. 

“Whatever beer is on tap and a view of DJ Canary.” 

Ava was definitely blushing now, and she knew that even in the dim light of the bar Laurel would be able to see it. Still, she tried to deny it. “I don’t- She’s not- And why do you just assume I’ll be here tomorrow night?”

Laurel chuckled. “Call it a hunch.”

“DJ Canary isn’t as amazing as she thinks she is,” Ava muttered, and Laurel’s shoulders tightened ever-so-slightly. 

“DJ Canary is better than she thinks she is,” Laurel retorted, and Ava caught just the barest edge to her voice that hadn’t been there before. “And you’re the one here looking for her.”

Okay, so maybe Laurel had a point on that note. 

“I’m just...curious, is all. About her name. I like solving a puzzle.”

“Yeah, well, good luck with that one. She’s a puzzle wrapped in an enigma tucked inside a mystery when she wants to be,” Laurel informed her. 

“So you’re friends?” Ava concluded. 

Laurel smirked at her again. “You could say that, yeah.”

Further down the bar another customer was trying to get her attention. 

“Tomorrow at nine. If she doesn’t tell you her name after her set, I’ll let you in on the secret,” Laurel told her as she moved away. “See you then!”

Ava frowned. Why did nobody in this place know how to offer a simple invitation? It wasn’t that hard. “Would you like to come?” that’s all that needed to be asked. She quickly finished her beer and headed to the exit. As much as she hated the expectation that she’d just show up, she knew she’d be walking back in the next night. 

The puzzle wrapped in an enigma tucked inside a mystery that was DJ Canary had, annoyingly, gotten under her skin. 

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara MOSTLY loves her sister, but she just thinks Ava is hot and would be good in bed. There's for sure, 100% nothing deeper going on, and her life would be just a little easier if Laurel would get that through her thick skull.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait. Writer's block and extremely limited time and waning interest and all that jazz. I hope there's still interest in this and you enjoy the new chapter!

Sara looked up when her sister collapsed onto the couch beside her. She must have been mixing tracks longer than she thought if Laurel was already home from work. She’d always been a night owl, but since she’d started working nights it had only gotten worse, and now she had trouble getting to sleep before four in the morning. 

“Survived the shift?” Sara asked. 

Laurel nodded. “Actually, I saw your friend at the club tonight,” she relayed. 

Sara frowned. Friend? Which friend? Anyone she really counted in that category would’ve known better than to go there. 

“Jax? He wouldn’t,” Sara hazarded a guess. Of her friends he was the youngest, and as such, the most foolhardy at times. 

Laurel smirked and shook her head. “Sexy, blonde, and tall ring a bell?”

“Ava?” Sara asked, sitting up a little straighter. She had to admit she was surprised. When Ava hadn’t come to her set the night after she’d invited her, she’d written her off. Okay, maybe there had been a smidge of disappointment when she hadn’t showed, but the pretty brunette with the lavender contacts and pink stripes in her hair had helped her get over it for the night, and there could just as easily be someone else tomorrow if she wanted. 

“Oh, Ava, huh? She has a name now, does she?” Laurel asked, looking far too smug.

Sara rolled her eyes. “I learn names sometimes.”

“Yeah? What was the name of the girl with the Wonder Woman underwear who was traipsing around the kitchen Monday morning?”

Sara wrinkled her nose. “Started with an M maybe.”

Laurel gave her a knowing look. 

“That doesn’t mean anything,” Sara dismissed her. 

“I mean she hasn’t even ended up in your bed yet and you remember her name...Kinda seems like it might mean something,” Laurel argued. 

Sara gave her sister the finger. She was way off base. Okay, so Ava was a curiosity among the women she usually met. She was sharper, stronger, more sure of herself than the average club goer who fawned over her. And, okay, maybe that was kind of appealing, but the lady hadn’t even showed to her Sunday set. It wasn’t that late and it wasn’t that long. 

Sara didn’t mind the chase if someone was interested, but she had no intentions of chasing someone who wasn’t. 

“You’re reading too much into this, Laurel.”

“Am I? Am I also reading too much into you promising you’d tell her your name?” Laurel challenged. 

_ Dammit _ . Of course Laurel had gone and talked to her. And of course she’d had to let that slip somehow. “It’s just a name.”

“A name you never give out to the club girls,” Laurel pointed out. 

“I give it out sometimes,” Sara argued. 

“You USED to give it out sometimes. It’s been years.”

Sara glowered at her sister. “Maybe it’s just been years since someone’s bothered to ask,” she countered. 

Laurel studied her for a moment, then rolled her eyes. “So you don’t care that she’s definitely going to be at your set tomorrow night?” Laurel asked. 

Sara’s body thrummed with a hint of excitement. Just a small one. It didn’t mean anything. “She is?” she asked with a raised eyebrow and as bored a voice as she could muster. It was not enough, apparently. 

Laurel grinned like the cheshire cat. “Not that you care,” she mocked her. 

Sara rolled her eyes again. “Whatever. I’m gonna get some sleep.”

She grabbed the empty bowl of cereal that had served as her early morning dinner off the coffee table and headed to the kitchen. 

“She asked about your name!” Laurel called after her, and Sara froze. 

“And?”

“I told her if you don’t tell her tomorrow, I will,” Laurel informed her, looking pleased with herself. 

Sara groaned. When her sister was playing wingman, it was great. When she attempted to play matchmaker, she was insufferable. 

“Don’t read too much into this!”

“Don’t get too excited to see her!” Laurel shot back.

Sometimes Sara wished she was an only child. 

  
  


Ava wasn’t alone tonight. 

Not that Sara cared. 

She looked good, though - tight top and even tighter jeans, her hair falling in loose waves around her face, reflecting the multi-colored lights as they bounced past. 

Her friend looked good too. Blonde hair tied up into a ponytail, cute glasses, dark lipstick, and a low-cut top. She didn’t hold Sara’s attention, though. Not the way Ava did. 

Sara looped into a new song, focusing on the beats, weaving them together seamlessly. There would be no pause for people to lose interest or leave. She noticed a large group entering the club and half of them broke off and headed straight to the dance floor as the new song picked up. She grinned. 

Her eyes flicked back to Ava, and she felt her heart begin to race a little. Laurel was leaning over the bar and talking to her. 

She’d better not be causing trouble. More importantly, she’d better not be spilling things she shouldn’t. 

Sara turned her attention back to the music and the crowd, her fingers on the dials, waiting for the specific cues in the music so she could do her thing. She watched a few more people move onto the dance floor away from the bar, and she smiled in satisfaction. It was a good night. She shouldn’t have to go upstairs tonight. 

She glanced over at Ava again and smirked when Ava’s eyes met hers. Sara wasn’t sure if she bit her lip on purpose or it was an unconscious thing, but either way, she didn’t mind. She flashed a small wave and watched in amusement as Ava tucked some hair behind her ear, ducking her head self-consciously. 

Sara winked at her, though she wasn’t sure if Ava could see it. She hoped so. 

Ava’s friend leaned in to talk to her, and then they both looked her way. Sara watched with interest as Ava shook her head, but her gaze lingered on Sara. 

For the first time in years, Sara checked her phone to see how much longer her set was, not because she wanted to make sure she enjoyed it while it lasted, but because she was looking forward to afterwards. 

  
  
  


“Fancy seeing you here,” Sara said, leaning against the wall with a smirk, not at all surprised to find Ava waiting in the hallway where they’d run into each other before. 

The instantaneous blush that crept up Ava’s cheeks only made Sara smirk wider. “Well, it’s not a work night tonight, so…”

“And how is the new job? Everything you dreamed it’d be?”

Ava narrowed her eyes at her, but it did nothing to dampen Sara’s smirk. “Yes, actually. It’s...Well, I knew it would be a learning experience and it has been, but it’s been going well so far.”

“Somehow that doesn’t surprise me.” Ava struck Sara as the type of person who would make something go well even if it wasn’t really. She had that overachiever sort of vibe, too. 

Ava frowned. “What do you mean?”

Sara shrugged and changed the subject. “What happened to your friend?” 

“Felicity? She’s still at the bar. I think she’s making friends with the bartender.”

“Which one?” Sara asked, able to guess the answer before it fell from Ava’s lips. 

“Laurel. She said she knows you?” 

Sara bit back a snort of laughter. “Yeah. We go back a ways,” she confirmed. 

“She said she’d tell me your name if you don’t, by the way.”

Sara pushed off the wall and took a step towards Ava, she noted the small shiver that ran through Ava as she did so. She met Ava’s eyes and raised an eyebrow at her. “Are you always so eager to learn a girl’s name, or is it just something about me that you like?”

Damn, could this girl blush, and damn, if it wasn’t adorable. Her cheeks were well past pink on their way to red now, but she jutted out her chin slightly and looked down at Sara with a challenge in her eye. “It’s not you. I just don’t like unanswered questions.”

Sara grinned and took another step closer. She was definitely invading Ava’s personal space now, but Ava didn’t step back. Sara could feel the hairs on her arms stand up and felt a small buzz of excitement running through her body. Maybe Ava would give in tonight. Maybe they could go back to her place, have some fun, and Sara could work her out of her system. “Is that so?” Sara challenged. She reached out to tuck some hair behind Ava’s ear, letting her fingers deliberately brush against Ava’s cheek, and then having them linger at the end of the strands where they now rested on Ava’s chest. She could feel the quick rise and fall of her chest, and knew the type of shallow breathing she was causing. Ava was more than a little affected. “So you don’t like anything about me?” Sara asked, trailing her fingers down Ava’s arm. 

She watched as Ava swallowed hard, her cheeks burning, her blue eyes bright, gaze unwavering. 

Ava shrugged, but Sara felt the shiver she was trying to hide. “I like your music,” Ava replied. “It’s a shame about your insufferably cocky personality though,” she added a moment later with the hint of a grin on her lips. 

Sara burst out laughing, stepping away and leaning back against the wall. The comment had caught her off guard. There were so few times when she was flirting with a girl that one of them said something that surprised her, but Ava had done just that, and Sara enjoyed the small thrill it provided. When Sara met Ava’s gaze again, Ava looked rather pleased with herself. “You might be right,” Sara said. “I’m pretty sure my sister would agree with you, anyway.” 

Sara watched as Ava registered the new information. She wondered if it would click who her sister might be, but if it did, Ava didn’t say anything. 

“So, Miss Cocky-DJ, are you going to tell me your name? Or should I just go ask the cute bartender who is actually somewhat helpful?” Ava demanded. 

“Only somewhat, huh? Laurel been talking in riddles?” Sara knew her sister. She wasn’t necessarily any better about giving a straight answer than she was. Laurel liked to say it was part of their charm. Sara knew it was just because they could both be assholes. 

The way that Ava rolled her eyes confirmed Sara’s suspicion. 

“Still waiting on an answer,” Ava pointed out. She crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently, as if she had some pressing place to be at 2 a.m. 

“So very curious, aren’t you?” Sara asked. She stepped forward again and ran a finger over one of Ava’s arms, causing her to uncross them quickly. Sara smirked. 

“You playing nice?” Laurel’s voice rang out, and Sara rolled her eyes. Of course Laurel would check up on her. 

“Always,” Sara replied at the same time that Ava snorted and said, “No.” 

Laurel walked up to them, looked from Ava to Sara, raised an eyebrow, and crossed her arms. Laurel gave her an expectant look. 

Sara rolled her eyes again. She could have teased this out for a solid few more minutes of flirting, but no, Laurel  _ had _ to interject. “You’ll have to excuse my sister for interrupting us. The insufferable gene runs in our family.”

Sara was rewarded by Ava’s eyes going wide and her mouth hanging open as she looked from Sara to Laurel and back. “Sister? This is your...the one you said would agree...The bartender? You’re sisters??”

“She’s quick. I see why you like her,” Laurel commented dryly, and Sara glared hard. There was no liking. There was some curiosity, and definitely some physical attraction, but she was hardly some school girl with a crush. 

Fortunately it seemed like Ava was still too busy processing the sisters revelation to have caught Laurel’s comment. 

“So when you said you go back a ways…”

“She meant from the day she was born,” Laurel supplied. 

Ava crossed her arms again, shook her head, and rolled her eyes. 

“So when I asked you if you knew her name…”

“I was pretty amused, yeah,” Laurel said with a smile and a nod. 

“Jerk,” Sara muttered, having trouble repressing a smirk. 

“Hey, I’ve told her  _ my _ name,” Laurel shot back. “Shall I tell her yours?” 

“There you guys are! I say hi to one friend I recognize and suddenly everyone disappears!” Ava’s friend, Felicity, declared, marching down the hallway towards them. 

“Sorry, I had to pee and then ran into these two flirting,” Laurel replied. 

She was going to be lucky if Sara let her in the apartment tonight with the way she was behaving. 

“Oooh, flirting, huh? Do you know her name yet? Also Zari texted and she’s mad she didn’t get an invite. Apparently work sucked and she’d have liked to blow off steam on the dance floor. Also, I swear I saw my boss here with some cute young thing, so there goes your theory about his supposed crush! Also, holy wow you are attractive up close.” 

Sara let out a small laugh. She was impressed by Felicity’s ability to cycle through subjects without pausing to take a breath. 

“Thank you,” Sara replied, unable to keep the smirk off her face. “You’re pretty cute yourself.”

Felicity smiled a pretty smile and touched her hair in a way that Sara knew meant that she was flattered, but the truth was that even up close, Felicity didn’t hold a candle to Ava, who was currently scowling at her.

“Just can’t help yourself,” Laurel muttered, leaning in so that only Sara could hear. 

Sara shot her a look, and shrugged. 

“They’re sisters,” Ava informed Felicity. 

Felicity looked from one to the other and back. “No shit? Actually, yeah, I can see that. Ha, and now you’re worried because Laurel knows you’re hot for DJ and-”

Sara turned amused and somewhat surprised eyes to Ava, who flushed a deep crimson as she clamped her hand firmly over her friend’s mouth. Sara heard Felicity mumble something that sounded an awfully lot like, “Shit! Sorry!” 

Laurel had the decency to look slightly embarrassed. Sara did not. Sara raised an eyebrow at Ava, who was doing her best to hide behind Felicity despite being a good few inches taller than her. 

“Hot for DJ, huh?”

“She’s exaggerating,” Ava mumbled, releasing Felicity and shooting her a hard glare. 

“Sorry!” Felicity repeated. 

“She’s not exaggerating by much,” Laurel muttered, looking at the ceiling. 

“Okay, well, I think that’s my cue!” Ava declared, turning and beginning to walk away. 

Sara rolled her eyes. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t been aware that Ava found her attractive. She was kind of counting on that to, at some point, get her laid. 

Felicity made a move to go after Ava, but Sara was quicker. In a few long strides she’d caught up to Ava. “Hey, Hot-for-DJ, hold up.” 

Ava stopped and turned, meeting Sara’s gaze with a glare. 

Sara smirked. “Good to know you’ll answer to that.”

Ava started to turn, but Sara caught her elbow. 

“Sorry. Couldn’t resist.” 

Ava rolled her eyes, but didn’t try to run away again. 

Sara moved closer, invading her personal space. “Sorry about my sister,” she said, making her voice a little more husky on purpose. She was rewarded with a slight shiver running through Ava’s body. “And your friend,” she added, unable to hide her amusement. 

“But not yourself?” Ava challenged.

Sara grinned. “You’ve got fire. I like that.”

Ava’s body relaxed slightly, and she looked like she didn’t know what to do with that statement. 

Sara took advantage of her being momentarily thrown off, and pushed up to place a small kiss on Ava’s cheek. “Laurel calls me Sara,” she murmured into Ava’s ear, before pushing away and heading back down the hallway towards Felicity and Laurel. 

“Because it’s your name?” Ava called after her, sounding only slightly exasperated, which Sara chose to view as a good sign. 

“I knew you were smart!” Sara called back over her shoulder. She stopped in front of Felicity. “You should get her back here again.”

Felicity grinned smugly. “Because you’re hot for Ava?” she asked. 

Sara rolled her eyes. “My next set is tomorrow,” she said instead. She grabbed Laurel’s hand and walked away, not stopping until they were through the door clearly labeled “Employees Only”. 

“You suck!” Sara accused. 

“Don’t be mad at me because you neglected to get her number,” Laurel shot back smugly. 

“I don’t like her as much as you think I do.” Sara ignored the way the words sounded like lies even to her. She barely knew this girl. It was her libido leading her to think she liked her. That was all. 

“Uh-huh, sure,” Laurel said, giving Sara a pointed look. 

“What?” Sara demanded. 

“You told her your name.”

“If I didn’t you were going to. Thought I might as well, seeing as it’s my name and all,” Sara pointed out. 

“You kissed her cheek.”

“As a tease. She could’ve been kissing my lips tonight, but she’s a challenge. I can respect that. I just wanted her to maybe go home thinking about what my lips might have felt like elsewhere.”

Laurel grimaced. “Okay, I do not appreciate the mental image that conjured, but the point is you want her thinking about you. I saw the two of you. Awkward and flirty.”

“I’m never awkward,” Sara countered, narrowing her eyes at Laurel. 

“Unless you actually like someone,” Laurel shot back with a triumphant grin. 

Sara opened her mouth to counter the claim, but she didn’t have a good comeback. She rolled her eyes. “I hate you.”

Laurel wrapped her in a hug. “No. You love me!” she replied gleefully. “And when you’re dating Miss Sexy Legs and having the time of your life, I will gladly accept spa gift cards and expensive bottles of wine as thanks.”

Before Sara could tell her there was a fat chance of any of that happening, Laurel had danced out of the room and back towards the bar. Sara sighed heavily. “Sisters!” she muttered to the empty room. 

Dating was not on her agenda. It wouldn’t fit well in her life. She worked nights, she slept days, and life was...complicated seemed like an understatement. It didn’t seem fair to drag someone into it. Not that that was what she wanted. No, Ava would be a fun night after an amusing challenge. That was all. 


End file.
